Registration under GST, Goods and Services Tax - GST

I had submitted the following query earlier:'My client has income of 18 Lakhs by way of supply of services and has agricultural income of 19 lakhs in FY 17-18 (period 1.7.17 to 31.3.18). He has not taken registration.Is he liable to take registration under GST. and if yes, what will be his GST liability for the FY 17-18 and what are the other consequences?' Iam informed that for the purpose determining the turnover limit for taking GST registration, the exempted agricultural income also has to be considered.. Is this correct?

This is misinterpretation. It is not the intention of Govt. to disallow threshold exemption by clubbing the exempted turnover. Your client is required to apply for registration when he crosses turnover of 20 lakhs of taxable services.If you have any doubt, you should opt for filing application with AAR.

The 20 lakh exemption is in respect of the aggregate turnover which is defined in section 2(6) of the CGST Act, 2017. As per the definition the limit of 20 lakhs will have to be seen by including the exempted turnover as well. Hence the aggregate turnover has exceeded the said limit and thereby GST would be liable on the services provided.

So registration is required once the turnover limit crosses ₹ 20 lakhs (including the agricultural income). The amount of liability can be ascertained by looking at the accounting entries i.e. say if the service income is earned entirely before the 20 lakh limit is crossed then no GST liability would exist but registration would be required.

There could be penalty for non-compliance which could be up to ₹ 25,000/- and interest if any tax liability exists.